Generally, ceramic objects are produced by a series of complicated steps, including a step of forming pottery slurry, a step of molding clay, an air drying step and a high temperature sintering step. As known, these steps are labor-intensive and time-consuming. Moreover, since these steps are manually performed and controlled, some drawbacks may occur. For example, since the step of forming pottery slurry is manually done, the quality of the raw material cannot be uniformly controlled. In other words, the finished ceramic objects may have inconsistent quality. After the step of forming pottery slurry, the step of molding clay is performed. During the step of molding clay, the extents of fineness of the finished ceramic objects are varied depending on the experiences, the hand feels and the aesthetic perceptions of different operators. Even if different ceramic objects are produced by the same operator, these ceramic objects are somewhat different in quality. That is, since the steps of producing the ceramic objects are labor-intensive and time-consuming and the finished ceramic objects have inconsistent quality, the ceramic objects are expensive in prices and difficult to meet the consumers' preferences. Therefore, it is an important issue to develop a method of automatically producing cost-effective ceramic objects with stable quality.
As kwon, a rapid prototyping (RP) technology is developed from the concepts of forming a pyramid by stacking layers, and the main technical feature is to achieve fast formation. A complicated design can be transformed into a three-dimensional physical model automatically and fast without any cutting tools, molds and fixtures. Thus, the development cycle of new products and research and development cost are largely reduced to ensure the time to market for new products and the first-time-right ratio. Accordingly, a complete and convenient product design tool is provided between technicians and non-technicians (e.g. managers and users), and the product competitiveness and the quick reaction capability of enterprises in the market are improved obviously.
Recently, the rapid prototyping technology develops a method for producing three-dimensional physical models by combining an inkjet printing technology and a precise positioning technology of positioning the carriers. The producing method begins by first spreading a layer of powder on the carrier and then printing high viscosity liquid binder on part of the powder by using the inkjet printing technology, so that the liquid binder and the powder stick together to become solidified. After the above steps are repeatedly done, a three-dimensional physical model is produced by stacking multiple layers. However, the development of the rapid prototyping technology is limited by the molding powder material and the binder material corresponding to the molding powder material. That is, the researchers do not pay much attention to the applications of other materials.
FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view illustrating a conventional rapid prototyping apparatus. As shown in FIG. 1, the rapid prototyping apparatus 1 comprises a printing module 10, a movable platform 11 and a construction platform 12. The printing module 10 is installed on the movable platform 11. Moreover, the printing module 10 may be moved with the movable platform 11 to a position over the construction platform 12. Moreover, a construction material supply container 13 and a construction chamber 14 are installed on the construction platform 12. The construction material supply container 13 is used for temporarily storing a construction material. When the movable platform 11 is moved to the construction material supply container 13, the construction material is pushed to the nearby construction chamber 14. Consequently, a construction layer to be printed is formed. Then, the printing module 10 performs a printing operation on the construction layer. After the above steps are repeatedly done, a three-dimensional object (not shown) is produced by stacking multiple layers.
The conventional rapid prototyping apparatus 1 further comprises a cleaning and maintenance module 15. The cleaning and maintenance module 15 comprises a moisturizing unit 151 and a blade unit 152. As shown in FIG. 1, the cleaning and maintenance module 15 is fixedly disposed on the construction platform 12 and beside the construction chamber 14. After the printing module 10 finishes the printing operation, the printing module 10 is moved with the movable platform 11 to the position over the cleaning and maintenance module 15. Consequently, the cleaning and maintenance module 15 can perform a cleaning and maintenance operation on the printing module 10. In particular, the cleaning and maintenance module 15 is located at a lateral side of the construction platform 12 of the conventional rapid prototyping apparatus 1. Consequently, after the printing operation is completed and the printing module 10 is moved across the entire of the length of the construction platform 12, the cleaning and maintenance module 15 can perform a cleaning and maintenance operation on the printing module 10. Under this circumstance, the performance of cleaning and maintaining the printhead structure is deteriorated.
As mentioned above, the development of the rapid prototyping technology is limited by the construction material, and the cleaning and the maintenance operation on the printing module is important to the quality of the finished product.
Therefore, there is a need of providing a rapid prototyping apparatus for producing a three-dimensional ceramic object with good quality in order to overcome the above drawbacks.